Seeder.



N0. 7l0,852. Patented Oct. 7, I902.

W. FETZER.

SEEDEB.

(Application filed July 9, 1902.:

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet L Q/vihwoau j I bbo'mwua o H: NORRIS PETERS :0. PHaYo-uwm wasmum'o: av c.

N0. 7l0,852. Patented Oct. 7, I902.

W. FETZEB. SEEDER.

(Application filed July 9, 1902.]

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

WILLIAM FETZER, OF MIDD LETOIVN, OHIO.

SEEDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 710,852, dated O tober 7, 19 02.

Application filed July 9,1902. Serial No. 114,986. (No model.)

To all whom it nt'ag concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM FETZER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Middletown, in the county of Butler and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seeders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and.

exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it ap-.

pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in feed-cups forseeders, and particularly to cups that are used with what is known ;as a

forced-feed apparatus for seeding purposes. 7

It consists in a seed-cup in which a rotating seed-wheel operates and a reducer adapted to be inserted within the cup for altering the amount of feed delivered therefrom.

It further consists in certain other novel constructions, arrangements, and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a feed-cup and a gearing for operating the same. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one-half of a seed-cup looking at the same from the inside and showing a reducer in position. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a similar seed-cup, but showing one of a slightly-different interior contour and illustrating a reducer properly shaped for the same. Fig. at is a perspective viewof .a reducer suitable for a seed-cup. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of another form of reducer. Fig. 6 is a vertical transverse section through a double seed-cup.

In operating seeders heretofore in which forced feed has been used and in which hopper-shaped cups have been employed for containing the rotating feed-wheel an actuatinggear has been commonlyemployed, provided with a number of rings of gear-teeth upon its face, each ring being of a greater radius than the one within it, so that by moving a pinion or beveledgear opposite any one of the different rows of gear-teeth upon the said gear movements with different speeds may be imparted through the beveled gear and theirintermeshing gearing to the feeding disk or wheel of the feed cup. Of course the speed with which the feed wheel or disk revolves controls the amount of feed delivered from the feed-cups per acre. In using these features it was found desirable to have a number of different adjustments for feeding various kinds of grain and feeding them inevarious quantities per acre. This necessitated the employment of an actuatinggear having so many rows of gear-teeth that the said teeth were decidedly small and were found to wear out easily and rapidly. By the present invention the amount of feed delivered from the'seed-cups of a seedingmachine is capable of being controlled by means placed within the seed-cup and is not entirely dependent upon the actuating-gear for varying the feed.

I therefore construct such an actuating-gear, as l, with seven rows of gear-teeth, as 2. W'ith the same sized gearwheel as heretofore employed I am enabled to make the teeth of a much larger size, and consequently capable of wearing longer and giving more efficient service than the teeth on the gear-wheels previously used. The seed-cups employed are preferably double seed-cups as illustrated in the drawings, though of course single seed-cups can be used without altering-the spirit of the invention. Each double seed-cup, as 3, is provided with two compartments 4 and 5 and a revolving feed-wheel 6 between them. One side of the feed wheel or disk is made with a larger flange than the other side, so that it is capable of delivering larger seed than the other side or a greater quantity of small seed. Thus as the seed-cups stand as far as set forth they are capable of delivering two grades or different amounts of seed.

By employing my im proved reducers the flow of seed from each cup is still further regulated, giving foul-possible adjustments of the said cup itself,and this with the seven adjustments of the gear-wheel give in all a total of twenty-eight adj ustments, OfcourseI do not wish to be understood as being limited to the precise numbers set forth,since I mayelnploya greater number of rows of gear-teeth or a less number without changing the principle of the invention in the least. I have, however, illustrated a gear with seven rows of gearteeth in order to set forth the invention in a definite and clear manner, and, as I have also found in practice, this number gives an ample number of adj ustments in feeding seed from the feed-cups. The control of the outlet from the seed-cup by my improved reducers forms an important feature of this invention. Each reducer 7 is formed with a body portion 8, which is made to fit quite closely the rear contour of the hopper portion of the seed-cup, its lower end projecting a suitable distance into the throat of the seedcup to reduce the quantity of seedwhich can pass from the seed-cup. The body portion of the reducer is braced with respect to the forward wall of the cup by an arm or projection 9, formed, preferably, at the upper end of the reducer and arranged so as to extend across from the front to the rear wall of the hopper. This arm 9 regulates the depth to which the reducer may descend within the cup and braces the same firmly in position, so that although the reducer is a removable piece and can be easily taken out and set in place again it is a firm fixture of the cup when in place.

In Fig. 2 I haveillustrated a seed-cup made in accordance with a patent granted to myself and Christ Moehring on the 27th day of May, 1902, No. 700,966, in which the lower portion of the hopper is formed with a semispherical bulged portion of suitable size to permit the seed in the cup to be churned and thoroughly moved by the action of the feedwheel. In this style of cup also the rear wall, which overhangs the mouth of the outlet-passage leading from the cup, falls away to the rear, the front face being" rounded out above the entrance to said outlet, as clearly seen in Fig. 2. This makes it possible for seed which fail to enter the outlet-passage to recede above the same and minimizes the chances of seed being crushed within the hopper. In forming the reducer I preferably maintain a contour similar to the inner face of the cup, so that the same benefits are derived with the reducer as when it is not used. The lower end of the reducer is therefore curved forwardly, its inner face being nicely rounded to preserve the semispherical contour of the interior of the cup at its lower end. Myimproved reducer is, however, often applied to cupsiof an older form, in which the hopper is not bulged to such an extent at its lower end and in which the same hollowedont receding portion in the rear wall of the hopper is notemployed. An example of such a cup will be seen in Fig. 3. The reducer 10, which is adapted to fit in such a cup, is similar to the reducer 7, the same having a body portion and a bracing-arm, as at 11. The body portion of this reducer also conforms quite closely to the inner face of the rear wall of the cup; but at its lower end it is formed with a head 12, which extends in both directions, the rear end 13 lapping around the wall of the journal-box of the feed-cup, while the forward end Li extends into the throat of the outlet-passage, so as to reduce the seed-outlet and lessen the flow of seed from the cup. In using this reducer the forward face of the lower end, just above the projection 14, can be curved, as at 15, to secure the same benefits as exist with respect to the lower end of the reducer 7, and the seed engaging the upper edge of the projection 14 will be freed by the falling away of the reducer toward the rear'and will not be caught or crushed at the throat of the outlet. The edges of the reducers next to the seedwheel project so as to engage the central web of the seed-wheel, making a snug joint therewith, while the outer edges of the seed-reducers are tapered so as to hold securely to the inner surface of the adjacent cup-walls. These reducers are easily put into position and drop into their proper places by the action of gravity without any particular attention being given to them. The brace-arms 9 and 11 engage the front wall of the seed-cup and firmly brace the said reducers in their positions. The reducers also lie quite closely against the surface of the seed-wheels, and the action of the seed in the cup will tend to keep the reducers against the said wheels. The reducers can be easily lifted out of place by hand at any time.

It will be apparent that my improved reducers can be easily applied to different shapes of seed-cups without varying the spirit of the invention. They are extremely simple in structure and inexpensive in manufacture.

W'hile I have described this invention as applied to seed-cups which are operated by a gear with a series of teeth upon its face, yet I do not wish to be understood as limiting the use of my reducers to cups operated in in this manner, since the reducers can be employed in connection with seed-cups operated by other means as well as with the gear set forth.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire'to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A seed-cup, provided with a feed-wheel revolving therein, and a reducer arranged within said cup to regulate the discharge of seed therefrom at the throat or outlet thereof, substantially as described.

2. In a seed-cup, the combination with the hopper portion thereof, of a reducer arranged to fit within the said hopper and a reducing end carried thereby and projecting into the mouth of the outlet therefrom for-regulating the fiow of seed from the hopper, substantially as described.

3. A reducing means for seed-cups, comprising a removable reducer adapted to fit the wall of the cup and project at its reducing end a suitable distance into the outletthroat, and means for bracing the reducer in position within the cup, substantially as described.

at. A reducer for seed-cups, comprising a movable piece formed of a body portion adapted to fit upon the walls of the seed-cup, a reducing portion extending partially across the outlet-opening of the cup, an arm projecting I ing the opposite wall of the cup for movably from the said body portion and engaging the bracing the piece in position, a projection at opposite wall of the cup, substantially as dethe lower end of the reducing-piece formed scribed. with an in wardly-facing curved surface, sub- 15 5 5. Means for reducing the discharge of seed stantially as described.

from the seed-cup of a seeding-machine, com- I In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my prising a reducer formed so as to fit upon the signature in presence of two witnesses.

Wall of the cup immediately above the outlet XVILLIAM FETZER. therefrom, one end of said piece cutting oif \Vitnesses: to a portion of said outlet, an arm projecting EVERETT DECHANT,

from the upper end of said piece and engagl A. C. FREEZE. 

